The COVID-19 virus has quickly spread internationally and has touched down in the Bay Area causing harm to people for weeks. According to NBC Bay Area, the first case to reach the United States was confirmed January 20, 2020. On January 26, 2020, the first case in California was confirmed in Orange County. The Bay Area’s first confirmed case appeared on January 31, 2020. Currently, the most cases in the bay area are found in Santa Clara County at 1,091 confirmed cases and 36 deaths. San Mateo county has the third most number of cases at 486 confirmed cases and 13 deaths as of April 3, 2020. Additionally, NBC Bay Area also reported that the city of San Francisco has reported its first case of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter called Division Circle Navigation Center, according to the city’s Department of Emergency Management.

In an email from NDB from the Head of School and Admissions Maryann Osmond, NDB made the decision on March 8, 2020 to “close NDB on Monday, March 9 through Wednesday, March 11 for a deep cleaning after Serra closed when a student was in contact with a relative who tested positive for COVID-19”.   Another announcement was made that the school would be closed until March 25, 2020, and then again extended the date until April 20, 2020, but news of an extension for school closures was made to last until May 1, 2020 by the Bay Area’s county school districts and the Archdiocese of SF. Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews made a statement saying that, “In consultation with public health officials across six counties in the Bay Area, we have decided to extend school closures for the health of the Bay Area. Families need to continue to shelter in place across the region in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible” (San Francisco Examiner).

The NDB community has felt the shock and isolation as students and faculty are unable to come together during normal school hours. According to LA Times on April 1, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom stated that he expects all public K-12 schools to be closed for the rest of the year. NDB has not yet made a statement on if they will follow with the public schools, but there has yet to be an update. Many students have weighed in on how NDB’s closure has affected them. Senior Isabelle Collins is heartbroken over the loss of her senior year. “I’m so sad school is currently closed. I feel like a major chapter of our lives has been ripped away as seniors. There are so many things that I have always dreamed of experiencing and telling my daughter but now they are all gone”. 

Senior Noosha Steward has been missing the community feel that NDB brings and is feeling nostalgic about better times with her friends. “I have been really sad that this closure has happened because I miss my friends and I miss having a constant source of social interaction at school. On a more personal note, my birthday is coming up and I am sad that I have to spend it at home, rather than with my friends at school. I’m very upset that I am missing my last season of softball because I don’t get to have a senior game or experience the last few weeks of playing softball”.

COVID-19 has proven devastating around the world as it has taken lives and forced millions into isolation. The NDB community, along with all California schools, have been unable to come together and enjoy the last few months of the school year. NDB students and faculty are grieving the loss of the time they could have had, but are still staying connected via distance learning.